JPH0330547B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a method for checking the operation of a power steering device for checking whether the power steering device is operating normally.

[Prior art]

In recent years, the number of cars equipped with power steering devices has increased, and these cars can be steered with a small, almost uniform steering force from low speed to high speed, contributing to reducing driver fatigue. There is.

Drivers of vehicles equipped with power steering devices are accustomed to light steering, so if this device malfunctions and they are not aware of it, it is extremely dangerous to drive. The only way to check operation was to determine whether the steering was normal or abnormal based on the steering sensation.

[Object and structure of the invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for checking the operation of a power steering system, which allows the operator to check the operation of the power steering system before starting to drive an automobile.

In order to achieve this purpose, this invention
The oil pump is temporarily rotated before the vehicle starts operating, and the load condition of the oil pump is monitored. Hereinafter, this invention will be explained in detail using the drawings.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a power steering device.
In the figure, 1 is a steering section, 2 is a motor that drives the oil pump 2a, 3 is a control section, 4 is a selection switch for selecting steering characteristics, 5 is an engine,
5a is a speed sensor, 5c is an engine sensor,
6 is a steering sensor, 7 is an ignition switch,
8 is a battery, and 9 is an alternator.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing these connections. In the figure, the steering sensor 6 is a light emitting diode 6.
a, slit disk 6b, phototransistor 6c
It is configured to send out pulses proportional to the amount of steering. The voltage of the battery 8 is sent to the engine sensor 5c when the engine is operating. Note that the diode 2b connected in parallel with the motor 2 is a diode for absorbing transient voltage of the motor 2. The control unit 3 includes waveform shaping circuits 30, 31,
Oscillation circuits 32, 33, frequency division ratio setting circuit 34, alarm display 35, switching circuit 36, current value judgment circuit 37, control circuits 38, 39, stabilization circuit 4
0, 41, 42, a pull-up circuit 43, and a display 44 for displaying the dry rudder characteristics.

The waveform shaping circuit 30 is composed of resistors 30a to 30d and NAND circuits 30e and 30f, and the waveform shaping circuit 31 is composed of resistors 31a and 31b and a diode 31.
c, NAND circuits 31d and 31e. The oscillation circuit 32 is composed of resistors 32a, 32b, capacitors 32c, 32d, and a ceramic oscillator 32e, and the oscillation circuit 33 is composed of a resistor 33a, capacitors 33c, 33d, and a ceramic oscillator 33e. The frequency division ratio setting circuit 34 is a resistor 3
4a to 34c, and switches 34e to 34g, and since the number of pulses generated from the speed sensor 5a per unit mileage may differ depending on the type of vehicle, by appropriately setting the switches 34e to 34g. The frequency dividing ratio of a frequency dividing circuit built into the control circuit 39 is controlled so that the number of pulses per unit traveling distance sent from the terminal 39a does not change depending on the vehicle type. The alarm indicator 35 includes a resistor 35a and a light emitting diode 35.
It is composed of b. Switching circuit 3
6 are resistors 36a to 36f, transistor 36g,
It consists of 36h. Current value setting circuit 37
is composed of resistors 37a to 37m, capacitor 37p, amplifier 37q, and comparators 37r to 37t, and is adapted to determine which of three predetermined set values the current flowing through motor 2 exceeds. The control circuit 38 has a terminal 38a
It performs the processing described below based on the signals supplied to terminals 38k and outputs 5-bit parallel signals corresponding to the input signals from terminals 38l to 38q, and outputs alarm signals and reset signals from terminals 38r and 38s at necessary times. , and also terminals 38t~3
A zero level signal for displaying steering characteristics is sent to any one terminal of 8w. As described above, the control circuit 39 divides the signal supplied to the terminal 39e at a division ratio according to the signals supplied to the terminals 39b to 39d, and outputs the divided signal to the terminal 39a, and the signal is supplied to the terminal 39f. When a signal is supplied to the terminal 39g, a zero level signal is sent to the terminals 39h to 39l.
The signals whose duty ratio changes according to the signals supplied to the terminals 39m to 39s are connected to the terminals 39t to 39w.
We are starting to send out more. Stabilization circuit 40~
42 is designed to stabilize the supplied voltage to 5 volts and output it, and the stabilizing circuit 41 is composed of resistors 41a and 41b, a capacitor 41c, and a Zener diode 41d, and the stabilizing circuit 42 is composed of resistors 42a and 42b. , a capacitor 42c, and a Zener diode 42d. The pull-up circuit 43 is composed of resistors 43a to 43d. The display 44 is composed of resistors 44a to 44d and light emitting diodes 44e to 44h, and is adapted to display the steering characteristic automatically selected by the switch 4 or the control circuit 38. Note that the control circuit 38 is designed to preferentially display the steering characteristics determined by the switch 4.

The switch 7 has lock, off, accessory, on, and start positions, and in the accessory position, terminals 7a and 7b are short-circuited.
In the on position, terminals 7a, 7b, 7c are short-circuited, and in the start position, terminals 7a, 7c, 7d,
7e is shorted. Further, the terminal 7b is connected to electrical components such as a radio and a meter (not shown), and the terminals 7c to 7e are connected to an engine system power circuit. Furthermore, when the control circuit 38 is supplied with power, it internally generates a pseudo signal for testing the power steering device, and this pseudo signal is set to "1" at both the terminal 38c or the terminal 38d. When the level signal is supplied, the terminal 38l
-38q, and during the period when the pseudo signal is generated, an alarm signal is sent from the terminal 38r. When the current flowing through the motor 2 reaches 5 amperes or more, generation and sending of the pseudo signal is stopped.

The operation of the apparatus configured as described above will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the "key operation" shown in step 100 is performed, and when the ignition switch 7 is operated to the on position, the "pseudo signal generation" and "warning light on" processes shown in steps 101 and 102 are performed. . Therefore, the alarm signal sent from the terminal 38r of the control circuit 38 is transmitted to the control circuit 39 and the resistor 35a.
Since the light is supplied to the light emitting diode 35b via the light emitting diode 35b, the light emitting diode 35b, which is a warning light, is turned on, and a pseudo signal is generated inside the control circuit 39, but at this point, a "1" level signal is being supplied to the terminal 38d. is not supplied, no pseudo signal is sent out from the control circuit 38, and the motor 2 does not operate.

When the driver operates the ignition switch 7 to the start position, a starter (not shown) operates, but the step remains unchanged until the engine starts operating.
``Engine operation'' shown at 103 is determined to be ``NO'', but when the engine starts operating, a signal of level ``1'' is sent from the engine sensor 5c, so step 103 is determined to be ``YES''.

Even if the engine starts operating, a "1" level signal will not be supplied to the terminal 38c while the driver sets the ignition switch 7 to the start position, so the "starter operation" shown in step 104 will be "YES". The flow is determined by steps 103 and 104.
cycle between. However, when the ignition switch 7 is returned to the on position, "1" appears on the terminal 38c.
Since the level signal is supplied and the "starter operation" in step 104 is determined to be "NO", the step
105, the control circuit 38 sends out the pseudo signals generated internally from the terminals 38l to 38q. This signal is supplied to the switching circuit 36 via the control circuit 39, so that the motor 2 starts operating.

As long as the current flowing through motor 2 is smaller than 5 amperes, “current > 5 A” shown in step 106 is “NO”.
It is determined that this is the case, and the flow cycles through steps 103 to 106, and a pseudo signal is sent each time. When the current flowing through the motor 2 becomes greater than 5 amperes, the determination in step 106 is "YES", and the control circuit 38
As shown in step 107, the process of "stopping pseudo signal generation and sending out" is performed, so motor 2
Current is no longer supplied to. And control circuit 3
8 stops sending out the alarm signal that was being sent out from the terminal 38r, so the light emitting diode 35 goes out and the warning light turns off as shown in step 108.

In this way, a pseudo signal is temporarily generated to operate the motor 2 before the start of operation, so if the power steering device is malfunctioning, the warning light will not go out.
Failure can be determined.

The control circuit 38 completes the confirmation operation at step 108, and thereafter switches to normal operation to perform power steering in accordance with the driving conditions. Furthermore, whether or not there is a failure in the power steering device is determined by determining whether the motor current is 5 amperes or more, but this value may be arbitrarily set in accordance with the capacity of the device. Further, whether or not the starter is in operation may be determined by a starter sensor or a signal from a starter relay.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, in the method for checking the operation of a power steering device according to the present invention, the motor is temporarily operated before the start of operation, and the operation of the power steering device is checked based on the magnitude of the motor current. Since the quality of the power steering device can be judged before the start of driving, the driver can drive according to the judgment result, which has the effect of contributing to safe driving.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of the power steering device, Fig. 2 is a circuit diagram showing details of the control section shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the power steering device.
The figure is a flowchart for implementing the method of the invention. 2...Motor, 2a...Oil pump, 3...
Control unit, 5... Engine, 5c... Engine sensor, 6... Steering sensor, 7... Ignition switch, 8... Battery, 35b... Light emitting diode, 36... Switching circuit, 38, 39...
control circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a method for checking the operation of a power steering device that performs power steering by controlling the rotation speed of a motor-driven oil pump,
A method for checking the operation of a power steering device by temporarily operating a motor and monitoring the magnitude of the current before starting operation.